Wayward Encounter
by Cryssy-miu
Summary: When the dwarf filly of Ponyville attempts to run from home, she has a rather unceremonious encounter with the spirit of chaos himself. R&R please!


The wind howled, bouncing off the rough bark of trees. Acid rain pelted the land with enough force it stung when it touched you. The storm was getting worse, but she had walked as far as her aching quivering hooves could comfortingly mete out. Her body was just getting drenched to the bone. She was sure to get sick; she was already so weak from her condition.

_So why did I leave?_ the filly questioned herself. It had been racking inside her head since she stepped foot out of the cottage earlier that night. She was loved and cared for; Fluttershy was attentive and sweet, and a wonderful mother. But that was the thing:

She wasn't used to that.

The filly was so accustomed to loneliness and neglect, even scorn and looks of contempt – usually directed to her weak and limp half formed wing, and her shriveled body stature. She wasn't used to kindness, and as such, she wasn't comfortable with it. Fluttershy understood that – at least she always said she did, but the young Pegasus only wished her surrogate mother would understand she needed to be weened out of her bitterness and not thrust into open arms and love. It was too much.

_I can't take it.._The foal shivered. She couldn't take the situation, and she couldn't take the cold. Frigid fingers entwined through her airways, freezing them; she coughed on some water. She suddenly felt so tired, the need to sleep positively overwhelming. The filly sauntered over to one of the sagging trees, laying limp against it.

Little Marigold felt a dim panicked feeling when the ground underneath her began to split open. She tried to grab onto a soggy branch with wet sopping hooves, but ultimately found her body too weak to resist the gravitational pull, and she fell with the foundation of the trees. The ground rushed up to her face fast - and she fell delicately on a rubbery surface, a trampoline – that propelled her straight into the hard concrete wall.

"You're notorious for falling down holes, aren't you my dear?" The snickering venomously playful tone was unmistakable, as were those mismatched ruby pupils in a sea of yellow irises sparkling with mirth. He emerged from the darkness, green reptile foot coming first – next to the hard clopping hoof.

Little Marigold straightened herself dizzily, shaking clinging dew off her mane and tail. She heard him chuckle more and her ears flattened back in irritation. Oh no, she was not in the mood for this.

"Some pony have your tongue, little flower?" The chimera's innocent little inquiry was laced with taunting, though his look was one of confusion as he inched closer to the little pegasus. That filly was usually anything but quiet.

Little Marigold gritted her teeth and looked up, wondering if she could somehow maneuver that ridiculously stiff and disfigured golden wing of hers well enough to get through the now gaping hole in the earth. She didn't want to deal with the draconequus.

"I'm really not in the mood, Discord," she told him strictly and flatly, as if she had some sort of control over what he was planning to do. Instantly, a stream of water splashed her hard in the face from his conjured fire hose. The steamed filly had to summon all her will power to keep from pummeling the ridiculously annoying spirit.

"Oh, I know you aren't – judging by the downed look you had when you fell through the hole." He was on his back now, turning to look at the annoyed filly with devilish eyes. "I am the spirit of chaos and disharmony of course; I can't stop what I do just because some pony is having a bad night." As if to punctuate his sentence, a pink fluffy cloud pouring chocolate milk appeared over the small pegasus's head.

The filly gave a resigned sigh, and slumped down slowly into the concrete floor. The chocolate milk chilled her, but it was better than the freezing pelting rain, and especially the storm.

The chimera floated in front of Little Marigold for several minutes, studying her reaction. That was one of the reason the spirit spread such chaos: to get reactions. It was no fun if the land was dotted with the unbalance of natural order and every pony ignored it. Little Marigold was acting just like that tonight.

The filly pretended not to look at him, but she could see that ever changing expression from the corner of a lime green eye. She knew he was getting angry that _she_ wasn't getting angry...but she was much too tired to care about his mean little pranks and simply let the draconequus have his fun, while glaring at him through squinted little eyes.

She had found Discord a while back now; ironically enough she had also fallen into a hole that day, and at first the filly had rightfully froze in fear when she saw the spirit. Although she feared very little, Fluttershy and the other ponies had told her horror stories about the spirit and what all he was capable of. Granted, the filly was locked at home and away from most of the madness when it all happened, but she had seen through the windows – seen the soap roads and raging storms of..chocolate milk. She had also caught a glimpse of the draconequus's amazingly odd and mismatched body.  
>Fluttershy had warned her that the chimera was very dangerous and manipulative, and could do whatever he wanted to her if he got a hold of her.<p>

Spirit of all things terrible or not, the filly had quickly discovered that whatever elements of terror Discord carried, they were all shot by his element of being _extremely annoying. _It was hard to fear someone that was more like an immature over grown brat than he was a dark spirit. He was mean and mischievous and could be quite heartless, but the little foal didn't fear him.

Like her, he didn't like friendship (well, he must not if he hated The Elements Of Harmony), but he loved causing chaos and mischief, just like her. She was quite the prankster herself, and it was in that perspective that the two seemed to get along in a strange way. But it didn't come without Discord-typical taunting and mean pranks; she wasn't immune to being sprayed with a tidal wave of chocolate milk either.

Perhaps the only reason she didn't hate him was because he was the only person (spirit) she had known that didn't direct immediate attention to her ugly deformed shriveled wing, or her small body stature. No, the chaotic spirit hadn't said one cruel thing about her wing if he even noticed it at all. Though the filly did recall he glanced at it when he first met her. Perhaps he _did_ like it since it 'made no sense.'

"What brings the likes of a small-"

"Small?" Little Marigold snarled; she didn't give the chimera a chance to finish his sentence, certain he – like _all _the other ponies out there thought her weak and tiny; he wanted to make fun of her too! Well, he was Discord after all. The filly ignored the twinge of pain as she scraped her hoof against the ground – then charged for the draconequus. She barely felt the ghost of the fur from his leg rub against her before a large blue bubble engulfed her. The filly snarled and beat against the rubbery surface with her hooves – before dissolving into sobs.

The bubble was hovered in front of Discord's face for several seconds, although the small pegasus kept her face covered as she sobbed. She could still feel the spirit's eyes on her. After a few moments, the bubble was gently lowered to the ground. The filly shivered, all the while insistently whimpering; her tears soaked into her golden fur, mixing in with the sticky chocolate milk and creating quite a gooey and rather disgusting mixture.

Curled up – his snake like body coiled into the corner of 'his lair' himself, the draconequus watched the tiny little pegasus weep subconsciously into his pink scales. He noted a hoarse mucus induced rasp to her cries; she was already getting sick. She was curled up so tightly into a ball that she literally looked as small as a mouse. That wasn't too far from reality either.

Discord had legitimately mistaken the ten year old filly for a newborn foal when she first stumbled down into the crevices of his lair. The chimera was usually beyond gleeful when an unfortunate helpless little pony would come into his quarters. It _did_ get awfully lonely sometimes, and quite boring since Celestia had limited his amount of chaos. (Only five spreads of chaos per week. How _was_ he supposed to live that way?) He took delight in toying with the minds and sanity of his unhappy victims, but that little foal was different.

Well, different in a sense.

He noted immediately that the filly was substantially smaller than any filly he had seen, with a golden wing so limp and thin it seemed transparent. Really, the young pegasus looked as delicate as an ancient vase, thousands of years old. Although the filly wasn't exempt from his cruel pranks, Discord knew he needed to be more careful with someone so 'breakable.' Emotional trauma was one thing; physical was quite another.

In simple honesty, the little foal was amusing to the draconequus. If taught properly, she could be quite a helpful little minion when it'd come down to unleashing chaos upon Equestria; he had already seen a slight mean streak in her.

Little Marigold had finally quieted slightly. Well, everything had quieted but her hoarse coughs and the raging storm outside, which she realized with a heavy dread, she needed to go back into. For now, the sickly foal merely sought out comfort in the only one that was probably unwilling to give it.

"Come now, my dear, try and relax," Discord told her. "Perhaps I'll be..._merciful_- just this one night. Even I have enough honor to not torment a sickly pony; chocolate rain might be a bit worse for your pathetic little lungs, anyhow."

The response was muffled into his tail, but still audible. "Honor? I didn't know you were capable of that."

"Oh, how harsh! I'm as capable of any emotion as _you _are, little flower. Anger, love, hatred, happiness – you name it. My intent however is simply not driven by anger or hatred, like dear little Luna's was. I'm simply drawn to chaos because it's.."

"Fun?"

"Bingo."

The little pegasus rolled onto her side a bit, onto her gimped right wing. She was thankful she wasn't alone. Sure, she was with the spirit of chaos and disharmony – the supposed manipulative and dangerous creature, but at least it was with someone slightly familiar.

"I wish I was home," the filly whispered. A rumbling snicker was the response.

"Perhaps you should have thought of that before running blindly out into the night then." Discord's eyes flashed knowingly and he further smirked. "Oh, yes, I saw what happened. I shadow you often, you know." The thought chilled and both fascinated the filly, but she didn't say so. "I'm both responsible for you slipping in that puddle of dishwater and dropping those plates, and I'm responsible for saving you from falling off that cliff. Why you chose to leave your home when you are so clearly – ugh, _loved_- is beyond me."

Little Marigold lifted her head. "If you shadow me as often as you say then you should know why."

"Contrary to some pony's beliefs, I cannot read minds...yet. Oh, if dear little Tia would perhaps expand on this _annoyingly_ tenacious chaos and magic restriction, perhaps one day I will be able to. I never _have_ tried it." His tail gently coiled around the small filly, pushing her closer to him and to his face. "So perhaps you should tell dear Uncle Discord what is bothering you. Why would you run off – in a storm none the less – when you're cared for so well?"

"Because I'm not used to that," the filly responded simply. Her ears flattened in chagrin when the chimera snorted.

"And being loved so much bothers you?" He blinked when the filly had both the strength and the courage to jump up and snarl at him.

"Like I expected someone like you to understand!" Little Marigold shot back. "You don't even know how to love."

The draconequus's ears visibly flattened slightly himself, then he smirked. "Like I said, my dear, I am perfectly capable of love." His tail uncoiled around the shivering filly as he casually went back to floating on his back. "I simply chose not to really love anyone. Oh, how I love chaos and confusion; that's really the end to my feelings of love, really. Even if I truly loved anyone, it wouldn't put my initial plans for chaos asunder; which is what I'm certain dear Tia and Lulu are hoping for." He shrugged, floating back onto his stomach. "But alas, there is truly not much I can do being so strictly limited on the amount of chaos I inflict to this pathetic land..."

The filly waited until the draconequus had settled back down, and she curled into his tail once more. "I think you outta be grateful for the lenient punishment you received. They could have turned you back into stone, or even tried to kill you."

Discord snorted. "Oh, dear little Luna and Celestia don't have the gal for that, and there's _far _too much history between us for that to even be a considerable option." He smirked, then caught the questionable look in Little Marigold's lime eyes at the mention of 'history.' "Oh, that I will explain some day." He passed his feline like paw gently over the filly's eyes. "Now sleep. Sleep and perhaps I will kindly return you home when the storm passes... just this once." The filly did risk dying out in that raging storm on her own, especially if she couldn't even fly with that deformed wing.

Little Marigold's eyes drooped a bit; her body leaning more against the spirit's warm body, helpless to the call of sleep and the rhythmic lullaby of the softer rain pattering the edges of the earth above. Her eyes were closed and she could hear his wings as they folded into his body, and his head hit the ground on the opposite side of the room.

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_(Ah...don't know why I wrote this. XD_

_Well, for starters, I really really loved the idea behind Tripple-A-Battery's "Discord's Return" of Discord being limited in the amount of chaos he spreads instead of being "stoned' again (and I ESPECIALLY love the idea of him going rampant at the awful Grand Galloping Gala, which I'll expand into eventually), instead of just being imprisoned again. That leaves us with very little room to make fanfics about him. (Which is why I'm glad I have the whole "limited chaos" idea to work with. )_

_I like to imagine what it'd be like for my Little Marigold to somehow befriend Discord in a way. Yes, this fic is probably the closest you'd see to friendship with these two. (He IS Discord after all.) I don't want to change the draconequus's personality or make him "good", but the way I see it, he IS capable of caring about someone, but it would never change his ways. At least that's my opinion._

_Being that in Little Marigold's bitter days after her recent neglect, she is quite mean, these two would get alone better than one would think. Still, he more sees her as a toy for his amusement than he does a friend. (But the fact that he saved her from potential death in a storm has to say SOMETHING.)_

_And I thoroughly enjoyed writing Discord. What an awesome character. The whole history with "Tia" and "Lulu" (Celestia and Luna) comes from my own personal fantasy of them being best friends as children. (I have a pic of that as well on deviantart.)_ _I beleive I borrowed the particular "Lulu" nick name from one of my favorite Discord fanfics on here, "Scented Venom."_

_Oh, and if y'all are confused as to who Little Marigold is (other than she is a previously neglected and rather abandoned dwarf pegasus filly that Fluttershy takes in) check her out at my deviant profile cryssy-miu . deviantart . com (NO SPACES, obviously) in the "My Little Pony" folder_

_I also have some Discord and Celestia and Luna drabble ideas on mind. _

_Yeah, no one really has to read this, but I figured since I posted it on deviantart I may as well post it here. Which is what I do with pretty much all my fics. (Granted, this is my first MLP one)_


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